Seasons of Calcutta

The best part of Calcutta, or Kolkata as it is now known as, is that here different seasons are distinguishable... i stayed in Bangalore for a very long period... everyone says the weather of Bangalore is pretty good... however, i found it pretty monotonous... there are just two seasons.. namely Summer and Winter... on the other hand, in Kolkata, its a different matter altogether... when after the scorching heat of summer, the sky gets covered with dark clouds, it means we are going to experience one seasonal change... when the white clouds start floating against the backdrop of the azure sky after the rainy season, it means we are going to see another season change... it means that the “Sarat kaal’ is approaching.. it means that Gariahaat will be crowded with the enthusiastic people for their puja-shopping... it means that the Bengalis are getting prepared for their puja-holidays... it means the ‘probasi” bengali will flock the railway reservation counter for the puja special trains... and after the puja season gets over, when the morning mist becomes visible in the horizon, when the vegetable market becomes over- flooded with variety of vegetables, cauliflower, cabbage, tomato, and what not, when the halogen lights on the roads are switched on as early as 5 o’clock, when the migratory birds from unknown corners of the globe start flocking in different parts of Kolkata, it means that winter is imminent... and bengalis get ready for their winter-visit to their ancestral homes...and after all the happy moments of the winter, when the holi festival is celebrated with fanfare in Kolkata, when the morning temperature gradually goes up, when the A/C buses start plying with their capacity full, when we get mango “chatni” regularly for our lunches, it tells bengalis to get ready for another onslaught of the summer heat....

Go Slow in Life...

Its very important to go slow to enjoy a happy life...

One of the famous Tagor’s songs goes like this …

“Jibono jokhon shukaye jay...
Karunadharay eso...”

It essentially means - When the life dries up, O Lord! please come to me as a balmy breeze...

fast moving life has its own drawbacks... its important to enjoy the sprouting green leaves after winter... its important to enjoy the dark cloud as seen through the small window of the 10X10 room... its important to enjoy soothing music....its important to enjoy the smell of raindrops falling on parched soil... its important to enjoy watching kids making castles on the sands... its important to enjoy walking bare-foot on the moist green grass... its important to enjoy looking at the starry sky from the roof-top in a blacked-out night...

Happiness

Ekti sishir bindu (the glistening dewdrop)
বহু দিন ধ’রে বহু ক্রোশ দূরে
বহু ব্যয় করি বহু দেশ ঘুরে
দেখিতে গিয়েছি পর্বতমালা,
দেখিতে গিয়েছি সিন্ধু।
দেখা হয় নাই চক্ষু মেলিয়া
ঘর হতে শুধু দুই পা ফেলিয়া
একটি ধানের শিষের উপরে
একটি শিশিরবিন্দু।
– রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর (স্ফুলিঙ্গ হতে সংগ্রহীত)


“Bohu din dhore, bohu krosh dure,
bohu byay kori, bohu desh ghure,
Dekhite giyachhi parbotmala, dekhite giyachhi sindhu,
Dekha hoy nai chokkhu meliya,
Ghar hote shudhu dui pa feliya,
Ekti dhaner shisher upore ekti shishir bindu”


English Translation : (taken from the Internet)

I traveled miles, for many a year,
Spent riches, in lands afar,
I’ve gone to see the mountains, the oceans I’ve been to view.
But I haven’t seen with these eyes
What two steps from my home lie
On a sheaf of paddy grain, a glistening drop of dew.
– Rabindranath Thakur (Collected from Sphulinga)

Everybody wants to be happy. We work, we play, we talk keeping only one thing in our minds - we want to see ourselves and others around us happy. But do we really know the definition of happiness? Happiness has different meanings to different people. Thus a student becomes happy when he performs well in the study, a player becomes happy when he plays well, a scientist becomes happy when he does something worthwhile in his path to discovery. In other words, we become happy when we become successful in our endeavors. But to strive for success we need to understand that we should not neglect the small moments of joy. Hence by fixing our eyes at the targets while traveling through the bumpy rides of our lives, we must not overlook the small moments of happiness. It reminds me of a few lines from a poem of Rabindranath Tagore of India:

“Dekhi nay sudhu du chokh meliya, Ghar hote aaji duy pa pheliya, Ekti ghaser shisher upor.. ekti shishir bindu......”
This essentially means that while searching for some eventful big happy moments, we sometimes forget to enjoy the small moments of happiness.

These days I have changed my outlook towards life and have started enjoying the small so-called insignificant beauties of life like children playing in the school ground, a little boy trying to learn how to ride his bicycle, the flowers covering the small tree in front of my balcony, birds chirping in the bush, white clouds floating against the backdrop of an azure sky, a sip of the hot coffee at the cozy corner of my home.

This is what life is.

At the end of life, how much you love others and how much you have been loved by others - that only matters.

Yes...

This is #TRUTH

Enjoy the song - life is like a river - the flow must not be stopped - or else life becomes death...

It reminds me of one story from Mahabharata, the great epic from India. My grandfather used to tell me about this story too often. It says that one-day Yamraj, the God of Death, asked Yudhisthir, the eldest brother of the Pandava and one of the sanest persons in Mahabharata, Who is the Happiest Person in this World. Yudhisthir replied that the person who does not stay in a foreign land, who does not owe anything to anybody, and who is contented in life with bare minimum necessities is the Happiest person in this world.

To become really happy one has to embrace a slow life. Fast-moving life has its own drawbacks. It's important to enjoy the sprouting green leaves after winter, to enjoy the dark cloud as seen through the small window of our bedroom, to enjoy soothing music, to enjoy the smell of raindrops falling on parched soil, to enjoy watching kids making castles on the sands, to enjoy walking bare-foot on the moist green grass, to enjoy looking at the starry sky from the roof-top in a blacked-out night.

“Aaj mile hai jo khushi, kal pe na usko talo... Titli hai yeh ud jayegi, jitney bhi pehere dalo......

Added: For your reference...

Conversation between Yudhisthir and Dharmaraj
(as described in Mahabharata. because of the internet, I can get the originality.)

Question No. 1:Yaksha questioned: Who makes the sun rise and ascend in the skies? Who moves around the Sun? Who makes the sunset in the horizons? What is the true nature of the Sun and where is the sun established?

Yudhisthira answered: Brahma makes the sunrise and ascends. The Gods perambulate about the Sun. The Dharm
sets the Sun. Truth is the actual Sun and the Sun is established in truth only.

Question No. 2: Yaksha enquired: What instills 'divinity' in Brahmins?
What is the quality of virtuosity in a Brahmin? What is the humanlike quality of a Brahmin? What is the conduct akin to a non-virtuous person in a Brahmin?

Yudhisthira replied: The self-study (Swadhyana) of the Vedas is divinity in a Brahmin. Penance is the quality of a virtuous person in a Brahmin. Death is human-like quality in a Brahmin. Criticising others is conducted in a Brahmin like a non-virtuous person.

Question No. 3: Yaksha asked: What instills 'divinity' in Kshatriyas? What is the quality of virtuosity in a Kshatriya? What is the humanlike quality of a Kshatriya? What is the conduct akin to a non-virtuous person in a Kshatriya?

Yudhisthira replied: The art of archery is the divinity in a Kshatriya. Oblation is Kshatriya's quality of virtuosity in Kshatriya. Fear is his humanly quality. Abandoning people under the protection of the Kshatriya is conducted like a non-virtuous person in the Kshatriya.

Question No. 4 the Yaksha asked: What is that thing which is like a Mantra in the performance of oblations (Yajnya)? Who is the performer of rites and ceremonies during Yajnya? Who accepts the offerings and oblations of a Yajnya? What is that which even a Yajnya can not transgress?

Yudhisthira replied: 'Breath' is like a Mantra in the performance of rites. 'Mind' is the performer of all rites in the course of Yajnya. Only Shlokas of the Vedas termed rucha or the richa accept oblation. The Yajnya can not surpass nor transgress the richas.

Question No. 5 the Yaksha asked: What is heavier than the earth, higher than heavens, faster than the wind, and more numerous than straws?

Yudhishthira: One's mother is heavier than the earth; one's father is higher than the mountains. The mind is faster than the wind and our worries are more numerous than straws.

Question No. 6 the Yaksha asked: Who is the friend of a traveler? Who is the friend of one who is ill and one who is dying?

Yudhishthira: The friend of a traveler is his companion. The physician is the friend of one who is sick and a dying man's friend is charity.

Question No. 7 the Yaksha asked: What is that which, when renounced, makes one lovable? What is that which is renounced makes happy and wealthy?

Yudhishthira: Pride, if renounced makes one lovable; by renouncing desire one becomes wealthy, and to renounce avarice is to obtain happiness.

Question No. 8 the Yaksha asked: What enemy is invincible? What constitutes an incurable disease? What sort of man is noble and what sort is ignoble?

Yudhishthira: Anger is the invincible enemy. Covetousness constitutes a disease that is incurable. He is noble who desires the well-being of all creatures, and he is ignoble who is without mercy.
Question No. 9 the Yaksha asked: Who is truly happy? What is the greatest wonder? What is the path? And what is the news?

Yudhishthira: He who has no debts is truly happy. Day after day countless people die. Yet the living wishes to live forever. O Lord, what can be a greater wonder? Argument leads to no certain conclusion, the Srutis are different from one another; there is not even one Rishi whose opinion can be accepted by all; the truth about Dharma and duty is hid in caves of our heart: therefore, that alone is the path along which the great have trod. This world full of ignorance is like a pan. The sun is fire, the days and nights are fuel. The months and the seasons constitute the wooden ladle. Time is the cook that is cooking all creatures in that pan (with such aids); this is the news

Yudhistira could answer all the many many questions of the Yaksha, but all through he had this doubt regarding the real nature of the Yaksha. He had also raised the question in this regard, but he wasn't replied to. However, in the end, the Yaksha revealed himself to be Yama-Dharma, the god of death, who was none other than Yudhistira's father. He also admitted to Yudhistira that it was he who had stolen the ARANI in form of the deer. He blessed him, saying since he had adhered to Dharma(the righteousness), the Dharma shall protect them. Nobody will recognize them during the Ajanta Vasa.